TUDO DOIS is a photo essay about the Rio de Janeiro based gang Comando Vermelho (Red Command). By 'tudo dois' they mean it's all good, alright, it translates directly to 'all two' as in ✌️, the hand signal also forms a V of Vermelho.

Paintings on a jail wall, in the center you read a CV scratched tag.

CV rifle with a ‘peace’ sticker.

‘Dentinho’ is on look out at a high point in the favela he lives and send information via radio on who is coming in or out.

A member of Comando Vermelho (Red Command) poses for a photo in one of their bases in a favela. Comando Vermelho was founded in 1979 in a prison in the countryside of Rio de Janeiro, when drug dealers were arrested with political prisoners from the dictatorship. At the time their main goal was to use profits from drug dealing to finance escapes and to better the living situation of the brothers in jail.

Keeping the body active to keep the mind sane. Photo taken in the evangelical hallway of Bangu prison, CV has a whole wing of this penitentiary for it’s incarcerated members.

A member of Comando Vermelho holds the ‘silver hammer’ in a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

It’s common to find lots of cats in prisons because they help to deal with the rat infestation problem.

CV members packing up bricks to take to other selling spots within this favela.

‘AK’ 12 gauge shotgun, AR-10 7.62 and the infamous hand signal.

‘Bangu’ triage cell for the inmates who are waiting for trial or haven’t been placed in a permanent pavilion yet.

An inmate shows his leg wounds, sustained in the circumstances of his arrest.

Chico is a member of Comando Vermelho in Rio de Janeiro, he left the gang for a while, but after BOPE (Brazilian special ops) shot and then proceeded to point-blank execute his twin brother he decide to join back the gang and fight for vengeance until ‘God tells him to stop’.

A cell for 2 people in ‘Bangu’.

Members of Comando Vermelho cut a brick of weed into 5 Reais (1 Dollar) bags. 

More cats in ‘Bangu’ cells.

Honda XRE 300cc and a Para-FAL riffle.

Day to day communication is made via undisclosed radio frequency.

Another triage cell in ‘Bangu’.

Overview of a neighboring favela.

Smoke coming from a bus set on fire by CV members after a police operation that killed a high level boss.

CV members killed during a police raid

Police special force truck coming out of a favela controlled by CV after an incursion.